'The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...'

To Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,

Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Well, John Keats might have written this almost 200 years ago, but he certainly knew his stuff as far as autumn is concerned! I had the line about 'mists and mellow fruitfulness' buzzing around my head, and had a look online to remind myself of the whole poem (which I haven't read since I was in uni MANY years ago!) and what a brilliant tribute to this post-summer, pre-winter season it is! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!

Autumn is well and truly here, and a beautiful warm, sunny autumn it is. The leaves are turning, there's a nip in the air, and the sun in the afternoons is lovely.
Charlie and I had a lovely, leisurely day today - we were still in our pyjamas at 11am! We had lunch at the garden centre, and had a good time looking at the marine and tropical fish at the aquatic centre, before picking up a couple of new goldfish for our tank.
Not sure what our plans are for the rest of the weekend, but hopefully the weather will stay warm and sunny so we can get out and about!
I'm off to another ceramics night on Monday - wonder what delights I'll create this time? It's very therapeutic just sitting and painting for a couple of hours... and they provide good coffee and homemade cake... what more could a girl ask for!
Hope you all have a good weekend!